One thing I forgot to mention in “Meddle” (1) is that the first track begins and ends with the sound of howling winds. This is significant because track 2 on Side 1 is called “Pillow of Winds”. This song could not be more different from the first, however. It is a very soft, gentle, soothing tune, very typical in fact of many of the pieces that would, over the years, follow.

Trak 3 is “Fearless”, a very upbeat song with a relentless riff throughout. Nevertheless, it is still on the “relaxing” side of the band’s repertoire. It is unique, however, as it ends with an utterly faithful recording of the Liverpool Kop (obviously no later than 1971) heartily singing “You’ll never walk alone”, a song from a 1950s musical called “Carousel”, made famous though as a hit single by the Liverpool group Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1963, and very soon thereafter adopted by the Liverpool Football team supporters as their anthem.

Track 4 is “San Tropez”, a slightly jazzy and very laid back thing, but capturing perfectly the feeling people got when sunbathing there on a package holiday with Swan Tours.

As I said before, there are not many verbal features on the cover. This is the back cover:

“Meddle” is the next LP released by the band, being the only one they brought out in 1971. In terms of written info, it is the sparsest of their albums so far. This is the front cover:

This is actually one of the best albums the group ever released; there is simply not one moment on it that is not brilliant.

There is only one track on Side 2, but there are five on Side 1. Track 1 is called “One Of These Days”, and was noted at the time as featuring Nick Mason’s vocal debut. I remember it being played on one of the very early editions of “The Old Grey Whistle Test”, a prog rock TV programme on BBC2 that had just replaced its noble predecessor “Disco 2”. It was played showing a surreal cartoon of swirling shapes. It is a real stormer, this one, with a relentless bass riff giving the whole thing a menacing feel, with the soaring guitar of Dave Gilmour and the ghostly organ of Rick Wright providing an astounding colour to the mix. The only vocals in the song do indeed come from the drummer Nick Mason about two thirds through, where in a rough and guttural voice he intones the words “One of these days I’m going to cut you up into little pieces”. Sheer magic!

The last track on the LP is an amazing Williamson composition called “Creation”, which lasts an epic 16.04 minutes. The song comprises several discrete sections in different styles, all of which are truly wonderful, and all are separated by a very short and catchy refrain “Verily verily, Verily verily”. It is a veritable masterpiece. Its entire lyrics are set out on the back cover, along with the track listing and the credits. The instrumentation is unique, as it features a guest artist: Robin lead vocal, guitar, gimbri, violin; Mike percussion, sitar, mandolin, vocals; Rose bass, percussion, vocals; Licorice percussion, kazoo, vocals; and *Ivan Pawle organ, piano. “*appears courtesy of Dr. Strangely Strange, Island Records Ltd.” [see way above!]. This is the back cover of the LP:

Side 2 opens with a beautiful 4 part unaccompanied Heron song called “Sleepers, Awake!”. Its first words, however, are “Sleepers awaken”. It lasts 3.44 minutes and of course all 4 members of the band sing on it.

Track 2 is a splendid Williamson composition called “Mr. & Mrs.”, coming in at 4.54 minutes. It really is a romp of great fun, though its lyrics are typically profound and unfathomable.

The third track ends the album, and we shall consider it next ISB time.

Whereas the left side of the inner gatefold sleeve was a Williamson thing, Mike does the right side with a words and pictures thing he titles “Reflection”. The words, however, appear to be the full lyrics of his long and rather tedious song “White Bird” on Side 1 of the LP:

is a brilliant, classic Pink Floyd song concerning a future time on this planet when it would have become ridiculously overcrowded. It has since appeared on various compilations, but in the UK in 1974 it was rare gem indeed.

Side 1 opens with a Williamson composition called “Big Ted”. Robin sings lead and the other 3 provide backing vocals. He plays washboard and piano, Mike electric guitar and another piano, Rose bass, and Likky acoustic guitar, with the addition of a chap called Walter Grundy on harmonica. It is a very pleasant romp about a pig, lasting 4.21 minutes.

Track 2 is for me the least enjoyable one on the LP, being a dirge like Heron song called “White Bird”. The choruses are splendid, but short and few. But the song goes on for 14.46 minutes! Mike takes lead vocal and plays guitar, the other 3 doing the backing. Robin plays flute, sarang, Chinese banjo and percussion, Rose bass and Likky organ.

Track 3 ends Side 1, being another Williamson thing called “Dust Be Diamonds”, coming in at 6.14 minutes. It is a slightly frenzied piece, but very good indeed, and a welcome respite from the previous track. Robin sings lead and plays percussion and electric guitar, Mike guitar and vibraphone, Rose bass and Likky organ and kazoo.

The sleeve is a gatefold one, and the left side of the inside has this surreal Williamson penned picture:

I left school in December 1973, shortly before the notorious 3 day week that started in the UK. I had gained a scholarship to read law at Pembroke College, Oxford, but was not due to start there until October 1974. Accordingly, I had one of the first “gap years”, though it was involuntary, and only lasted two thirds of a year. It was a dismal time to be looking for work in Sheffield, but God smiled upon me, and found me a job at British Acheson Electrodes Ltd in Wincobank, a division of the late lamented international company Union Carbide. It was a fantastic introduction to the world of work in those days, and I earned £15 per week for a 5.5 day week, working Saturday mornings. This was quite a good wage then.

One Saturday afternoon in the spring of 1974, I was walking along a pedestrianised street in central Sheffield called Fargate. At that time there was a record shop there called Bradleys, and in their shop window I saw a single which utterly intrigued me:

By this time I had every track recorded by Pink Floyd, but this one was conspicuous by its absence! Moreover, it was obviously Italian. So, of course, I went straight in and bought it.